


Just Like in the Storybooks

by PokeChan



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Multi, Pre-Canon, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 04:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/757220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeChan/pseuds/PokeChan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lot of things got lost along with the power. Bas misses his books the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like in the Storybooks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InsaneBlueGenius](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneBlueGenius/gifts).



> Oh look! I finally wrote Revolution fic! Blue wanted some Bas/books love so here we are.

Bas was a reader, always had been, as long as Miles had known him. He had always read well above his level, loved the classics just as much as the newest novel. Bas blew through biographies and poetry just as enthusiastically as fiction. He had a soft spot for action and trashy romance and wasn’t fond of Stephen King, even though he read every one of the man’s books. When he and Miles had tried the dating thing, fresh out of high school, Bas had quoted Shakespeare and Nora Roberts alike. It was a simple fact of life – Bas loved reading – just like water was wet and the sky was blue.

When the Blackout struck, though, the last thing on anyone’s mind was literature. Even Bas had more pressing concerns. It was a full year after the world went dark that Bas even brought books up again, more before he started looking for bookstores and libraries in the towns they passed through. There wasn’t much to be found. Winter had come through twice and paper meant warmth and that was just more important nowadays than history and bedtime stories. 

It broke Miles’ heart to see such a thing; he couldn’t imagine how it made Bas feel. Books were like children to him. He remembered Bas giving some kid a black eye in high school for ripping a page out of Bas’ Sherlock Holmes book. They meant things to him. And that was why Miles found himself poking his head into little thrift shops and school rooms when he went on supply runs.

They were a good four years into the Blackout and Miles and Bas had followers, a small army, in fact. They had men to command and civilians to protect. Bas had better people skills than Miles or Jeremy (Jeremy was still awkward when giving orders and Miles “scared” people) so he stayed behind with the caravan to keep things running smoothly over there while Miles, Jeremy, and a handful of others went out hunting and looking for whatever canned goods might still exist. They never did turn up much of the latter. 

Several months ago Miles had found a book in a small corner store and brought it back to Bas. It had been a little thing, maybe two hundred pages long and it had looked terribly boring but Bas’ eyes had lit up and he gave Miles a smile that he hadn’t seen since long before the Blackout. It’d turned Miles’ knees to jelly and sent a flutter through his stomach, things that hadn’t happened to him since the awkwardness that was adolescence. So now, when he was out, he looked. Sometimes he found something and other times he didn’t. When he did it never failed to bring a smile to Bas’ too often grim face. 

Jeremy had also joined the hunt, having become smitten with both Miles and Bas (and they finding quite a bit of affection for him as well). He’d only managed to find a beat up copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a Harry Potter book that was missing a few pages, but Bas was always happy to have them, even if he and Miles had teased Jeremy for days about the caterpillar book. 

Today was a good day for them. The hunting party had brought down two deer and they’d found some medical supplies, even though there’d been no food to be had, as well as three books. Miles had found a small booklet that turned out to be The Hounds of Baskerville while Jeremy had scrounged up some harlequin romance novel and Good Night, Moon.

They headed back to the caravan, heads held high. 

“It’s like you’re a magnet for children’s books,” Miles teased, picking his way through the underbrush. “Children’s stories and bad romance novels.”

“Hey, Good Night, Moon is a classic, thank you very much,” Jeremy defended, holding the thin book close and cradling it like a baby. “Shh, it’s okay. He didn’t mean it.” 

Miles fixed Jeremy with a look that plainly said he thought his friend was out of his mind. “Can you not?”

Jeremy, the damn man-child, stuck his tongue out at Miles before ducking to dodge the swing Miles threw at him. He didn’t manage to get away the second time when Miles knocked him round the back of the head. They didn’t say anything else about the books until they were back in the tent with Bas.

Miles handed over his find first, knowing full well how much Bas loved Sherlock Holmes. He was not disappointed by Bas’ reaction when he practically began bouncing around the tent like a boy on Christmas morning. Bas flung his arms around Miles’ neck and full on kissed him, Miles could feel Bas’ smile against his lips and for a moment it felt like the world was perfect. When Bas stepped back, cheeks just a bit pink, Jeremy handed over the novel and children’s book. After a single glace Bas burst into a fit of laughter, Miles following suit.

“Oh stop!” he snapped, pouting at the pair of them. “If you don’t want them I’ll take them!”

“No,” Bas wheezed. “No, I love them, really Jeremy. But why is it always children’s books?”

“Hell if I know!”

\---

That evening the campfire remained lit well into the night as Bas devoured both the Sherlock Holmes book and the romance novel. Jeremy and Miles fell asleep long before Bas returned to their tent. 

When Miles woke that morning it was to the distant chatter of Bas and Jeremy, just on the other side of the tent. Stretching, Miles stood and shuffled over to the washing basin. He bent and splashed his face with the still cool water, driving the last of the sleep from his eyes. As he made his way to Bas and Jeremy he could hear what they were talking about. 

“But when Ricardo gets on the train,” Bas was saying.

Jeremy waved his hand back and forth. “No way, that bit where she finds out Lucas isn’t the father was way more upsetting!”

Suddenly, Miles wasn’t sure he wanted to join them after all. He had refused to talk about romance novels with Bas before the Blackout and the loss of electricity had not changed his mind in the slightest. It was only going to be worse now that Bas had Jeremy to feed into it. Miles flirted with the idea of just going back to bed or even gathering up some of the men for some much needed combat practice but Jeremy had spotted him and was holding out a bowl of food for him.

Taking the offered food silently, Miles sat down between the two as they continued on with their conversation. 

“I mean, I’ve read better, but this isn’t the worst romance I’ve seen either,” Bas said around a spoonful of what looked like grits. “Still a better story than that Twilight crap.”

“Ugh, my sister-in-law loved that movie,” Jeremy made an exaggerated gagging noise before he returned to the topic at hand. “You know the author never tells us who Cynthia’s real father is. We know Ricardo is Amelia’s father and that Clark kidnapped Cynthia as a baby but no one ever says who her father is.”

Miles quietly contemplated how quickly he could manage to end himself with the dull wooden spoon he held in his hand.

Bas nodded. “I think there’s a sequel to this one, though. It’s gonna drive me nuts.”

Jeremy leaned forward and pointed a finger right at Bas. “I’ll bet you anything it’s Nathan. They’ve pretty much got the same description in the narrative and that cannot just be bad writing. It can’t!”

“What I really want to know is if Tyler is a man or a woman,” Bas laughed.

Five minutes, tops. Miles was a fast worker and if he managed to hit something important it’d be even quicker.

“Totally a chick. Her middle name was Ashley.”

“Miles and I served with a _guy_ named Ashley,” Bas insisted. “So I just don’t know, but I want to.”

He put the spoon down. He was sure Bas would stop him before he could make any worthwhile progress with it anyway.

Instead of killing himself with the spoon Miles opted to tune out the pair of them and think over what needed to be done. They had enough food to last the entirety of the camp for over a week but he still wanted to take another party out either today or tomorrow, he hated running even close to low on provisions. There was also the matter of training the volunteers. Plenty of young men and women had stepped up to help defend their growing community. 

That was an odd thought itself, that they had a community now. Currently they were camped in what was once western Pennsylvania and they had permanent camps set up all over the place within a two hundred mile area. They were resettling. Miles had seen people fixing up towns, living in houses that had been left mostly unscathed. People had set up small towns near farms and were remaking society, bit by bit. They’d been paid in grain and shelter to protect some of these places from raiders; they were given carriages, supplies, and horses in exchange for training in defense. Miles and Bas were heroes to some of these towns; people left to follow them, took orders and trained like soldiers all for the hope that they could rebuild what was lost.

Miles hoped they didn’t think anyone could regain what had been lost. Things would never be how they had been, he knew that. He’d accepted it when he’d arrived at Ben’s apartment after trekking half way across the country only to find it empty. Things were lost and they’d never be the same.

“And then Miles proposed to me in front of the entire base wearing nothing but a lacey, sequined thong.”

At the sound of his name Miles snapped out of his musings and looked over at Bas. “What?”

Jeremy was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes. “You were spacing out,” Bas’ expression was half amused half concerned. “Miles, you need to lighten up a bit. Enjoy the little things, sometimes they’re all we’ve got left.”

With a sigh he ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry but they were talking about bad romance novels and i couldn't help myself with that Twilight comment. Okay, I'm not _really_ sorry but you know what I mean.


End file.
